Formisano R, Barba C, Buzzi M G, Newcomb-Fernandez J, Menniti-Ippolito F, Zafonte R, Vinicola V, Spanedda F
Rehabilitation Hospital, I.R.C.C.S Santa Lucia Foundation, Rome, Italy.
Brain Inj. 2007 May;21(5):499-504. doi: 10.1080/02699050701310994.
To assess the incidence of late post-traumatic epilepsy (PTE) in patients with very severe traumatic brain injury (TBI) who either received or did not receive anti-epileptic prophylactic treatment.
Two populations were studied: 55 patients retrospectively and 82 subjects prospectively.
Ten patients (18%) in the first population showed late PTE. Although the incidence was lower in patients who did not receive prophylactic treatment, the difference between the treated and the non-treated group was not statistically significant. Sixty-nine patients in the second group (84%) had prophylactic treatment. Twenty-seven patients (39%) suffered from late PTE during the 2-year follow-up period and 17 of them (63%) showed EEG epileptic abnormalities. No patient who did not receive preventive therapy suffered from late PTE during the observation period.
Due to the negative cognitive effects of anti-epileptic drugs, the preliminary results are of considerable interest for the rehabilitation of patients with very severe TBI.
